In July 2012, I showed up at the office of legendary Hollywood litigator Bert Fields along with Variety freelancer Bob Verini. We were doing a Q&a with the legendary Hollywood lawyer, a partner at Greenberg Glusker, in one of those nondescript Century City steel-and-glass skyscrapers. But once ushered into Fields’ inner sanctum, we stepped into a bespoke space of dim lighting, hushed tones, wood paneling and tomes of case law lining the walls.
“Hold all my calls,” Fields told his assistant, “unless it’s Tom Cruise.”
By then, Fields had long held a top position in the pantheon of entertainment attorneys. In addition to Cruise, clients included Michael Jackson, Warren Beatty, James Cameron, Madonna, the Beatles – not to mention Spielberg, Lucas, Ovitz and Katzenberg.
On the darker side of the business, Fields became embroiled in some of the shenanigans of shadowy showbiz detective Anthony Pellicano, whose services he often retained.
“Hold all my calls,” Fields told his assistant, “unless it’s Tom Cruise.”
By then, Fields had long held a top position in the pantheon of entertainment attorneys. In addition to Cruise, clients included Michael Jackson, Warren Beatty, James Cameron, Madonna, the Beatles – not to mention Spielberg, Lucas, Ovitz and Katzenberg.
On the darker side of the business, Fields became embroiled in some of the shenanigans of shadowy showbiz detective Anthony Pellicano, whose services he often retained.
- 8/9/2022
- by Peter Caranicas
- Variety Film + TV
As far as the Academy’s concerned, “Honeyland” is the bee’s knees.
A Macedonian beekeeper’s struggle to sustain an ancient way of life picked up three jury prizes at 2019’s Sundance Film Festival. Now it’s the first-ever dual nominee for documentary feature and international feature.
“Honeyland” thrives on elements traditionally revered in each category. Nature docs have been Academy catnip since 1948, when “Seal Island” kicked off a string of Disney-produced wins for true-life adventures, down to latter-day triumphs of “March of the Penguins” (2005) and “Free Solo” last year. “Honeyland” probes forbidding hillsides outside Skopje at breathtaking distance, then zooms in on a life-and-death battle between rival beekeepers spelling disaster for implacable heroine Hatidze Muratova.
Recipients of what was formerly best foreign-language film are generally strongly humanistic and politically aware, from 1948’s “Shoeshine” to last year’s “Roma.” Praised by Variety’s Guy Lodge for its “unexpectedly rich seam of moral tension,...
A Macedonian beekeeper’s struggle to sustain an ancient way of life picked up three jury prizes at 2019’s Sundance Film Festival. Now it’s the first-ever dual nominee for documentary feature and international feature.
“Honeyland” thrives on elements traditionally revered in each category. Nature docs have been Academy catnip since 1948, when “Seal Island” kicked off a string of Disney-produced wins for true-life adventures, down to latter-day triumphs of “March of the Penguins” (2005) and “Free Solo” last year. “Honeyland” probes forbidding hillsides outside Skopje at breathtaking distance, then zooms in on a life-and-death battle between rival beekeepers spelling disaster for implacable heroine Hatidze Muratova.
Recipients of what was formerly best foreign-language film are generally strongly humanistic and politically aware, from 1948’s “Shoeshine” to last year’s “Roma.” Praised by Variety’s Guy Lodge for its “unexpectedly rich seam of moral tension,...
- 2/1/2020
- by Carole Horst
- Variety Film + TV
Ava DuVernay has directed such films as “Middle of Nowhere,” “Selma” and “A Wrinkle in Time.” She was Oscar-nominated for her 2016 documentary “13th,” a look at the criminal justice system’s violations of the spirit of the 13th Amendment. Her next project is the Netflix miniseries “Central Park Five,” a look at the 1990 conviction of five teenage boys that is expected next spring. DuVernay spoke with Variety’s Bob Verini.
You’ve been aware of the criminal justice system’s treatment of people of color from a young age. When making “13th,” what came as a surprise?
I wasn’t aware of Alec [the American Legislative Exchange Council]. Everything else in the documentary are things that I’d been aware of and wanted to make sure other people were aware of. But in the research, learning about Alec, learning about this shadowy group that was pulling the strings of politicians from the right,...
You’ve been aware of the criminal justice system’s treatment of people of color from a young age. When making “13th,” what came as a surprise?
I wasn’t aware of Alec [the American Legislative Exchange Council]. Everything else in the documentary are things that I’d been aware of and wanted to make sure other people were aware of. But in the research, learning about Alec, learning about this shadowy group that was pulling the strings of politicians from the right,...
- 12/1/2018
- by Bob Verini
- Variety Film + TV
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